Project Eel
by Mass Effect Eel
Summary: For those who didn't like how Mass Effect 3 ended, or just wanted to see something new... we provide, for your entertainment, what we like to call Project Eel, or Mass Zone of Halo with Resident Solid Faction - Vanquish 2. Contains more characters than you would believe there to be. Note: Be prepared for big surprises as this story progresses. Follow the story of Shepard again.
1. Prolouge: Earth

Prologue: Earth

Shepard looked out his window with a slightly grumpy demeanor. Ever since he had been relieved of duty he had been stuck in Vancouver doing nothing but gaze out this same window every day. Today he could see a kid in a white hoodie playing with a model of some sort. Too far to be sure, but it looked like an Alliance starfighter. Well, good for him. At least he had _some _freedom. He was stuck here under constant surveillance until the stupid council decided to swallow their pride and listen to him about the Reapers. Nobody even gave him credit for stopping the Collectors last time. Well, maybe a _little _credit. But no medal or parade, to his disappointment.

Behind Shepard, the door hissed open and in strode a burly, tanned man wearing an ISA uniform. It was Shepard's good friend and former crewmate, James Vega.

"Hey commander," James said formally. "Council wants to see you."

Shepard got up and smoothed out the front of his shirt and got up. "You know you don't have to call me that anymore, James."

James laughed. "Well, when's that ever stopped me from doing dumb stuff before? If I'd listened to all the stuff you told me, you'd be dead."

Shepard laughed. It was true enough, James had saved him on several occasions. The two men walked out into the corridor. It was full of Alliance and ISA officers and troops. Many stopped to stare at Shepard as he passed them. He heard whispers: "Shepard…saved galaxy…Reapers…kinda crazy…"

He chose to ignore that last one.

Anderson, another good friend, was waiting at the top of the steps for them. He joined them walking towards the council room.

"Shepard," he said. "looking well, I see." He patted the commander's stomach. "A little soft around the edges, but fit for duty."

Shepard smiled good-naturedly. "Duty? You put me on probation, remember?"

Anderson grimaced. "Seems you were right, Shepard. The Reapers are coming."

"No," said Shepard sarcastically. "How long did it take them to figure it out? I've only been trying to tell them for the past two games."

Anderson opened his mouth to answer when James stopped. They had arrived at the Council chamber.

Shepard set his teeth and pushed the button to open the door.

"Alright, let's do this."

* * *

The Council chamber was noticeably bigger than the last time he'd seen it. Then again, with the ISA part of their group now, it was bound to need more room to fit all those extra people. Shepard, James and Anderson were joined by a thinner man with stubble around his mouth. Shepard knew him too. Kaidan Alenko, if memory served. They had once been crewmates too, but Kaidan had left after the entire Sovereign incident, in search of "quieter pursuits" as he had said. Shepard didn't know if he was pleased or not to see Alenko again. He noticed that Alenko had medals. Shiny ones.

The head councilor stood up and cleared his throat.

"We call the council to order." He announced. The entire council got to their feet and stared sternly down at the four men. "It has come to our attention that there is a major threat to the galaxy, a threat that may destroy us all." The councilor paused for dramatic effect. "The threat of the Reapers." He finished theatrically.

The chamber erupted into chaos. People muttered and murmured amongst themselves. The head councilor raised his arms for order.

"Now, as the only man to have encountered the Reapers in the field extensively, does Mr. Shepard have anything to tell us that might help?" The entire board of councilmen looked expectantly at Shepard.

The commander took a deep breath and a step forward. Then he pointed at all the board and shouted "Ha! I told you! I told you, but you wouldn't listen!"

The councilor furthest to the left shifted uncomfortably and watched as Shepard shuffled backwards across the floor and pumped his fists in the air in triumph. After two whole minutes of this, Shepard finally calmed down and grinned up at the council.

The councilor to the right, a fat man with little hair, spoke up.

"We were hoping you'd have a solution for us."

Shepard smiled and said "Of course I do! My plan is to gather all the-what's that?" he said pointing past the council at the huge window behind them.

Out the window, there was a splendid view of the city. Or it would have been a splendid view had it not been for gigantic mass of metal tentacles coming out of the clouds. Shepard's grin faded off his face as he realized what they were. A crimson beam of energy streaked out of the base of the tentacles, flattening a whole street and sending shockwaves across the city.

"IT'S THE REAPERS!" James yelled, and ran from the room, grabbing Kaidan with him. The ISA soldier and the Alliance major were gone. There was a deep metallic _Honk_ sound, resonating through the entire room as the reaper fired a second beam closer to the council. The windows shattered under the kinetic onslaught, blowing themselves inwards and showering the occupants of the room with fragments of broken glass.

Shepard had been flung to the floor by the first blast. As he tried to get steady, he was aware of the council's large meeting table heading directly for him. Shepard got to his feet, ignoring the screaming muscles in his legs and rolled to the right, narrowly missing the lethal furniture by mere inches. Then his head cracked against something hard and everything went black.

* * *

"Shepard! Shepard! Get up, soldier!"

That was Anderson's voice…what happened?

Shepard cracked open an eye, all too aware that there was the smell of smoke and chemicals in the air. Only then did he notice that he was lying on the floor. Anderson was standing over him, soot and blood on his face. Shepard tasted something metallic. He spat it out. It was red.

"D_." He swore. Shepard shakily got to his feet and took a look around.

The Council chamber was in ruins. All of the board was lying on the ground either dead or wounded, and there was a fire spreading from the left. Shepard reached for a fire extinguisher, but Anderson pulled him away.

"No time for that, Shepard. We've gotta get out of here!" Anderson unclipped a Predator pistol from his belt and handed it over. "Take this. I got a feeling you're gonna need it."

Shepard took the gun with a silent nod of thanks. He hadn't held a gun in a long time, but once his hands were on the grip, he felt safe. If they encountered any Husks, he'd be prepared. Anderson was looking out the broken window. There must have been a ledge down there, because as Shepard watched, Anderson jumped out, landing with a thump down below.

"Come on, Shepard! It's only a short drop, and we gotta go!"

Shepard sprinted over to the window and dropped onto the air vent below to join Anderson. In the distance, the Reaper could be seen, now fully out of the atmosphere and looking like a giant metal squid than anything else, firing red lasers out of its eye at the Alliance and ISA forces attacking it. Shepard winced as entire squadrons were wiped out with a single pass of the reaper's beam. The sky was darkening with all the smoke, and to Shepard's great dismay, at the edge of the city, a second Reaper could be seen descending out of the smoke, using its mass effect field to lessen the impact. They must have used the Mass Relays to get here. That would explain why none of their long ranged sensors had picked up movement. Shepard balled up his fists angrily. If only the council had listened to him. Then maybe they would have been more prepared.

The platform which Anderson and Shepard were standing on shook. Shepard nodded at the Admiral. It was time to go. The pair quickly made their way across to the nearest building, the cafeteria. Neither of them said much. Only when Anderson gave a shout of alarm did Shepard tear his eyes from the destruction of Vancouver and look at their path.

Climbing up the side of the Alliance cafeteria, in all their cybernetic horror, were a crowd of Husks. The zombie like servants of the Reapers, Husks had no morals, no fear, felt no pain. And they wouldn't stop until they were torn apart. In a way, the perfect soldiers for the reapers. Shepard took aim with his Predator and fired, bullets tearing into the indoctrinated monsters. Anderson was right beside him, gun roaring as each shot dropped a Husk off the side of the building. Finally, there were no more. Shepard checked his ammo count. Almost empty. He must have used more ammo than he'd thought.

_I need to practice my aim. _Shepard thought anxiously. He couldn't risk running out of bullets when he was being faced with a larger group.

He and Anderson proceeded over to the roof of the cafeteria, gunning down Husks along the way. One of the reaper zombies popped out behind a grate, lunging at Anderson's exposed back. Shepard aimed his gun and pulled the trigger. It clicked empty. Without a second thought, Shepard activated his omni-tool, firing a concussive shot at his enemy, flattening it.

Anderson turned around. "Thanks, Shepard, I owe you one." Then he shot over the commander's shoulder, killing the last Husk. "We're even, for now. We've got to get to the Normandy. Come on!"

Shepard and Anderson made a beeline for the nearest door and almost reached it when there was the ominous foghorn-like sound of a Reaper. Anderson and Shepard turned around just in time to see a massive beam of red energy tear through the building in front of them, severely damaging the one they were standing on. On the upside, however, it disabled the locking mechanism, allowing two Husks to come staggering out. Shepard clubbed the first one over the head with the butt of his gun, and then followed up with a roundhouse kick which sent the Husk flying off the top of the building. Anderson shot the other one, emptying his gun into the Reaper zombie. The creature took a few stumbling steps towards the admiral, but died before it could reach him. Anderson holstered his pistol.

"I'm out! Shepard, give me your weapon!" he roared.

"What?" asked the confused Shepard. "I'm out too."

"Oh. Okay. I don't know what I was thinking."

There was a brief moment of awkward silence.

"Let's keep going."

* * *

The pair of soldiers entered the damaged door warily, fists raised and biotics primed in case there were more Husks hiding in the shadows. After a precursory examination which revealed that there weren't any, Anderson found another door that had not been completely disabled by the Reaper's attack. It was stuck on the 'shut' command, however, and one person would have to force it open to let the other through. Shepard wedged his body into the opening and pushed the door open. Thanks to the smooth open and close mechanism of the door's design, it didn't take too much effort to hold it open. Shepard was already feeling like he'd been hiking all day, and could really use a break. But with Earth under attack, he knew that a break was an impossible dream. As Anderson squeezed through the door, Shepard heard something from an air vent on the far side of the room. Abandoning the door, the commander made his way over to the vent, omni-tool ready in case it was a Husk. Shepard looked into the vent, surprised to see the same kid from earlier that morning. He looked scared. Shepard felt a sense of pity. How could this child have known when he woke up this morning that his city was going to be destroyed later that day? Shepard reached out a hand, but the boy shrank further into the vent.

"Everyone's dying."

"Hey," Shepard said soothingly. "Let me get you to safety. Come on out."

But the child only shook his head.

"You can't help me."

Shepard was at loss for what to say. Anderson's voice rang out from behind the damaged door.

"Shepard! We've got to go!"

Shepard returned his attention to the air vent, but the boy was gone.

* * *

The open air was a nice change after the smoky interior of the cafeteria. Sure, Shepard had almost fallen to his death on the way out, but he was still alive.

_Which is more than I can say for those people._ Shepard thought sadly as he looked out onto the now ruined city. Reapers seemed to be bombarding the whole area with laser blasts and minions. Even more of the evil machines had dropped out of orbit and were now tearing up the skyline. Explosions could be heard in the background, blending in with the Reapers' charge-up sound.

"How did it all come to this?" Shepard shouted angrily, kicking a loose chuck of metal out of his path. It dropped down a hole with a dull clunk.

Anderson put a shoulder on the commander's shoulder. "None of us wanted this, Shepard. It's times like this that try us the hardest, show us what we're made of." Anderson joined Shepard, looking out over the ruined city. He bit his lip. "But I only wish there was a way to know all that without thousands dying."

They walked along a long metal platform, grimly looking about for husks and survivors. They didn't find any of either, only bodies and what seemed to be various escape crafts that had been shot down, crashed, or otherwise destroyed in the mad rush to get away.

It was only when a frigate took a fatal hit from a Reaper's eye beam that the pair looked up to stare at the explosion and shake their heads sadly. Then the shock wave hit, destabilizing the platform. The entire surface began to tilt, Anderson and Shepard flailing their arms to try and stay upright. It was no good. Both soldiers were sent tumbling down.

* * *

Shepard's mind raced as the ground swooped up to meet him. He had to slow his descent somehow. With the ground looking very solid, Shepard dragged his elbows and locked his legs to create friction, slowing him just enough to stop his head from smashing into a piece of a crashed ship's hull. He instead got bonked by a heavy object that fell off a stack of military gear and smacked him on the head.

"Ugh…not again." Shepard groaned, rubbing his head. He started to help himself up, and his hand brushed against the heavy object.

It was a gun, an M-8 Avenger assault rifle. Shepard smiled as his fingers closed around the cold metal grip, finger wrapping around the trigger. There were plenty of thermal clips scattered on the floor too, so he filled his pockets. Then he remembered Anderson. The admiral had not been as lucky and had bonked his head on the piece of hull. Shepard went over to help his friend when a bolt of blue shot past his ear.

The commander's head turned, and his eyes beheld one of the most hideous things he had ever seen. A bloated creature was making its way toward him, firing inaccurately from a large gun mounted on its arm. It was red with blue eyes, and it had two pairs, like a Batarian. Shepard raised the Avenger and returned fire, the gun's recoil digging into his shoulder. The bullets tore through the creature, sending it spinning backwards and finally crashing into the floor. A second one poked its head over a wall, but instead of shooting at Shepard, it rushed over to its fallen companion and began to…_eat it._ At the same time, the cannibal, as Shepard decided to call it, had grown armor plating over its entire body.

"Aw no," Shepard blurted out as the cannibal fired its arm cannon at him. He ducked behind some fallen supports and shot back, the Avenger's shots denting the cannibal's new armor. Shepard kept shooting, but realized that his assault rifle wasn't nearly accurate enough for the job. He needed a clean headshot, or he would run out of ammo if there were any more he had to fight. Spraying and praying was a rookie tactic. Shepard shot back a little more, his gunfire overwhelming the monster at last and sending it splashing into a puddle of spilt fuel, which ignited and burnt it to a crisp. Shepard walked to the edge of the platform, scooped some water out of the bay and threw it on Anderson's face. The admiral woke up with a start.

"Huh? Shepard! What's going on!"

"No time to explain! Can you walk?"

"Yeah."

"If we can make it out of here, we can get to the Normandy! Move! Move!"

Anderson shook his head and checked his gun. "You got a plan, Shepard? Cause I don't think we can make it to the Normandy on foot. Not with all this flying around us."

Shepard thought quickly, trying to come up with a plan, even though he didn't have one. "I-uh, saw a ship crash not too far from here, if we can get to it, we can use the radio to call for help" he suggested.

"Lead the way."

* * *

Shepard blew the head off a Husk, dived under a Cannibal's arm cannon blast, then kicked it into the ocean, the monster howling as it sank beneath the waves. Shepard looked behind him as Anderson finished off a Husk that was trying to crawl away. The ship wreckage was almost within reach, the still-burning remains sending acrid black smoke belching into the already sooty sky.

Encountering only a single Husk on the way, Shepard's hands finally closed around the radio. Alliance radios were designed to survive crashes that would obliterate the entire crew, so when Shepard clicked the 'on' button, the device crackled into life. The commander smiled. When the designs had been proposed for a crash proof radio, he had laughed, pointing out that if the crew was dead, then who could use the radio? Now, he knew.

He handed the radio to Anderson. "Hello? Normandy?" the Admiral said urgently. "We need back up! We're radioing the coordinates now!"

As the Admiral uploaded their location, the radio was reduced to a smoldering wreck by a bolt of energy that flew out of nowhere.

"Son of a…" Anderson cursed. Dozens of Cannibals and Husks began to close in on the pair, and they raised their guns in preparation of the assault.

Shepard's index finger curled around the trigger of the Avenger, when suddenly, a shadow fell over the entire area, and his ears filled with a deafening roar. Anderson and Shepard looked up to see the Normandy flying in, cannons blazing as the opposition was decimated by a wall of incoming laser fire. Once all of the enemy was safely destroyed, the sleek, white frame of the Normandy floated within jumping distance of the ground, the stabilizers struggling to keep the ship at a reasonable altitude.

Shepard's ship opened the bay doors, revealing Kaidan and James, waving at them to hurry up and get over here.

Shepard stowed the Avenger over his shoulder, the weapon compressing itself as he ran for his crew, parkouring over a fallen pylon as he dashed for the Normandy's loading bay. Anderson followed with a little less zeal, but still keeping a good pace.

As Shepard jumped into the Normandy, he turned around, ready to help Anderson in. To his surprise, the Admiral was standing back on land, making no move to get into the ship.

"Come on!" Shepard yelled at his friend. "We've got to go!"

Anderson looked back at him, determination shining in his eyes. "You go, Shepard. I'm staying."

"What? You can't stay!"

"I have to stay, Shepard."

Shepard readied himself to jump back. "Then I'm staying too!"

"The heck you're not!" Anderson retorted. "You need to head to the Citadel and bring back as much help as possible if we're even gonna have a chance of beating the Reapers!"

Shepard gazed one last time at his good friend. "Good luck ," he said solemnly.

"You too, Shepard."

As the Normandy began to take off, Shepard spied some Alliance evac shuttles taking civilians to safety. One of those civilians looked familiar…wasn't that the kid from the air vent? So he made it out alive! Shepard smiled as the child stepped into the shuttle, the door closing behind him. Then he looked up, and saw the two towering Reapers fix their gaze on the shuttles.

_Go on, fly away! Go ! go!_ Shepard thought, willing the shuttles to take off. Off they soared into the sky, taking the civilians away and right into a red energy beam. Shepard's mouth opened in horror as the shuttles spun out of control and finally exploded into a million burning fragments. There was no way anyone could have survived.

The commander let James and Kaidan lead him inside as the bay doors closed, sealing them inside the Normandy's hold.

* * *

As the Normandy engaged its stealth drive, Shepard looked out the window, and beheld the hundreds of Reapers that were on a collision course with Earth, igniting as they entered the atmosphere. Then there were the charred, ruined remains of the Alliance fleet stationed out there to protect earth.

Anderson was right.

They were going to need all the help they could get.

* * *

Project Eel - Earth


	2. Chapter 1: Mars

Chapter I: Mars

Shepard walked tiredly around the armory absent-mindedly checking on the equipment around the room. The door opened revealing the muscle-bound frame of James Vega, the ISA soldier.

"Commander!" James shouted. "We can't just leave Anderson and everyone else on Earth! We should stay and fight!"

Shepard didn't pay any attention to the words of the muscular soldier.

"Didn't you hear me, commander? Turn the ship around!"

Shepard replied, "You wanna die, James? Because that's what's gonna happen if we go back. We need to go to the Citadel to get help if we even want a chance of beating the Reapers."

James's mouth worked furiously as he tried to come up with a retort, but when he was unable to, the ISA Soldier just clenched his fists and stomped out of the armory, his boots clanking on the floor.

Suddenly, Shepard received a call from Joker over the speaker, "Commander, we've got an incoming transmission from Admiral Hackett."

Shepard stopped and looked towards the speaker, laid down the equipment, sighed, and made his way towards the terminal nearby, which had Hackett's face on it.

Shepard saluted and said, "Yes sir?"

The face on the screen said, "Shepard, you made… out. That's... We don't… ve a lo… f time and this link isn't w… ing to well."

Shepard thought in his head, "You don't say…" before returning his attention to the screen. Shepard picked up a nearby candy bar, and began chewing on it, while he listened to the rest of Hackett's talk. "No wonder I'm getting soft around the edges," he thought. As Hackett's speech went on, his static became more and more frequent, but managed to pick out that he needed to go to Mars to find something that was replaced by a bunch of static, before the signal was lost. Shepard finished up his candy bar and began preparation for the mission. After heading back to his room to have a shower, James re-entered the armory. "Hey, has anyone seen my candy bar?"

* * *

The shuttle ride was bumpy through the storm on the way to the Mars facility. James didn't like it much, but the ISA Soldier didn't want to voice his opinions as no one else seemed to care. "They must be used to these Alliance shuttles," he thought, as being an ISA Soldier, he usually rode around on the Intruder crafts, which for James, was a lot more comfortable and airy, unless they were in space.

After landing, Shepard led the way out as he, James, and Kaidan dropped onto the Martian sand. "Alright, let's make this quick," Shepard commanded. "We'd better disappear before that storm hits."

Along the way to the facility, the team heard some certain faint sounds. It sounded somewhat like gunshots, but it didn't seem possible, as there was still no trouble on Mars. As they approached the valley towards the facility, they found their answer: Cerberus. Everyone Shepard encounters always comes back to visit him, and Cerberus just happened to be one of them. One of them was pointing his gun at one of the soldiers from the facility.

"OMG! They're executing them!" James exclaimed as the Cerberus trooper put a bullet in the soldier's head.

Shepard opened fire on the Cerberus troopers. He got one of them, but the other two managed to get behind some rocks. Usually that would have wasted Shepard's time, as he wouldn't be able to hit them, but right now, they had the higher ground, and James and Kaidan got the other two at the back of their heads, which were sticking out over the rocks.

"Nice shots," Shepard remarked to his fellow teammates.

After that, they continued their way towards the facility.

* * *

More guards were around on the way to the facility, but being only normal soldiers, they were taken down easily.

"Not many soldiers, which might infer that they had help from the inside," Kaidan remarked.

Shepard replied, "Yeah, looks that way."

"I wonder what they're doing here," Kaidan said.

"Yeah. We'll probably find out."

"You don't know?"

"How should I know? I haven't spoken to the Illusive man since I turned myself in."

Kaidan and Shepard argued all the way to the entrance of the facility.

"I shouldn't have to explain myself to you, Kaidan," Shepard said as he activated the elevator to the facility. As the elevator ascended, the team started hearing clanking sounds of something hitting metal, and gunshots. The sounds seemed to be coming from a nearby air vent. After a few more seconds, the grill of the air vent suddenly flew open as a familiar looking asari jumped out from it. As Liara T'soni landed on the ground floor, she turned around and immediately launched a singularity at the two Cerberus troopers coming out of the air vent. As they levitated slowly, Liara took out her predator pistol and shot them, and after they fell, made sure that they were dead. Instinctively, James raised his rifle as the team approached her.

"Whoa, easy there, James," Shepard said, while pushing down James's rifle. "She's with us."

Turning around, Liara saw Shepard. "Shepard! You're alive. Sorry about Earth. Is it bad?"

Before Shepard could say anything, Kaidan intercepted the conversation. "Yeah. It was kinda hard to leave."

"Kaidan. I'm sorry."

After a while, Shepard decided he needed to know more answers about why they were here. He asked, "Hackett told us to come here. Do you know what for, Liara?"

"I do, Shepard."

James spoke up, apparently excited. "Yes! Answers! At last!"

Before she decided to give answers, Liara walked towards the window and looked out. "I've found plans for a Prothean device in the archives. It could destroy the Reapers."

"Alright then," Shepard spoke out. "Let's get moving to the archives before Cerberus gets there."

Before anymore could be said, one of the doors nearby started sparking. Cerberus was coming.

"We've got company," Shepard said, removing his avenger rifle from his back. "James, we need you to cover our exits, just in case Cerberus beats us to the archives. Get back to the shuttle."

James retorted, "But I don't know how to use your Alliance space crafts."

"Now, Lieutenant."

After hesitating for a bit, James ran towards the elevator and began his descend back to the Alliance shuttle. Shepard and the rest of the team waited, and when the doors flew open, they let a barrage of bullets fly at the enemy, and took out a bunch of them straight away. A few more came in, but Liara got them with a singularity as Kaidan and Shepard riddled them with bullets. After the gun fight, the team progressed through the facility, eliminating a few more Cerberus troopers along the way. Eventually, they got to a security room, where Liara tried to get into the video feeds, while Shepard tried to get the pedway unlocked. As they attempted to unlock things, Kaidan noticed something on one of the screens.

"Hey, who's that?"

"Oh, that's Dr. Eva Core," Liara responded. "She got here about a week ago. Shepard, any luck?"

"Nope. All locked."

"Looks like we'll have to take the construction route there."

Finishing their business, Shepard and his team left for the construction area, which was outside. Shepard didn't really like to put on his helmet, as it obstructed others from seeing of his face, but he'd rather lose facial exposure to dying, any day. The storm was getting stronger, but the team still managed to get to the other side of the facility externally unharmed. As they approached the other side, Liara noticed something odd.

"These doors shouldn't be open."

As they walked in, they had to turn on their flashlights, as it was almost pitch black. As Kaidan turned his lights on, he noticed the bodies on the floor and jumped back a few steps.

"This is brutal, even for Cerberus standards," Liara stated. "They must have had help from the inside to unlock the doors."

As they walked down a staircase, they heard Cerberus chatter coming from behind some glass in front of them.

"Flashlights!" Liara shouted.

The others got the message and switched off their lights as the Cerberus troopers opened the blinds of the windows. Before anything extra happened, Shepard, Kaidan, and Liara took out one soldier each with one bullet each. Going through the now shattered window, the team found the depressurizing station. Shepard was internally happy after Liara depressurized the room, as he could now take off his helmet. After seeing movement on a screen, the team directed their attention to it. To their shock and dismay, there on the LCD display, was Dr. Eva Core, shooting the guards, and opening the doors, killing everyone in the room.

"Well," Shepard said. "At least we know how Cerberus got in."

"I should have realized it when I met her," Liara spoke.

"Come on. We should go. Talking will just waste time as Cerberus gets to the archives," Kaidan urged.

After the short talk, the team heads out through one of the doors to get to the tram station. Gunning down waves of Cerberus soldiers on the way there, the trio soon arrived at the door to the tram station. Before they opened the door to the tram station, Liara held out an arm, stopping them.

"There's an automated gun turret in the next room. When we open the door, it'll start shooting at us."

"How do you know it's active?" Shepard asked in amazement.

"Well," Liara began to say. "It's because…"

Kaidan interrupted. "Alright, alright. Talk later. I'll go first, and if I die, don't follow me."

The door hissed open, and Kaidan charged to the first piece of cover he saw, an outcropping of wall, expecting a hail of bullets. When nothing happened, the major carefully peeked around the wall.

The gun turret was there, alright, but it wasn't shooting at them. The command console was open, indicating that the turret mainframe had been recently accessed. Liara examined the screen carefully, but there was no record of who had accessed the mainframe before them. The Asari tapped a few buttons, and the turret came back online again. Shepard and Kaidan joined Liara at the console.

"Strange," Liara muttered. "Who could have done this?"

Shepard opened his mouth to give a suggestion, but was interrupted by the sight of Cerberus troops approaching in a tram. There was no way they could take them all easily. The commander's mind thought quickly.

"Liara," he said. "I've got an idea…"

* * *

As the Cerberus soldiers began to march through the airlock to the tram bay, they began to feel a sense of unease. Everything was still, no hostiles to be seen. So why was there such a feeling of dread in the air? Everything was exactly as they had left it, from the barrels of thermal energy to the boxes to the gun turret on the ceiling.

The gun turret that was pointing directly at them.

It took aim, the laser sights locking onto the captain.

"Oh…" he was all he said before his body was torn apart by a barrage of bullets. The rest of his troops dived for cover, but they were all mowed down by the relentless barricade of bullets as they tried to duck and cover.

Once the last Cerberus trooper fell down dead, Shepard, Liara, and Kaidan poked their heads out from behind a crate on the top floor. The commander and Kaidan bumped fists.

"Good thinking, commander. Now, let's get on that tram."

* * *

After getting on the tram and putting their helmets on again, Shepard and his friends headed, at long last, towards the Prothean Archives. A bomb stalled them, but all they did was hop onto a Cerberus tram that was sent to stop them. After killing the soldiers off, Shepard activated the tram and the team continued their journey to the archives.

"A good amount of Cerberus troops is probably waiting for us at the other end," Shepard said. "Be ready."

As the tram docked at the archive station, Kaidan stayed in the tram and unleashed a fury of bullets at the Cerberus troops, while Shepard and Liara ran out to flank the remaining soldiers. The plan almost worked well, and all that was left standing in their way were two Cerberus centurions and a Cerberus guardian. Singularity wouldn't work on the centurions, as they had their energy shielding up, so Shepard would have to go with the old fashion way here. He shot a few bullets at one of them as he ran for the second. He dodged just about every bullet that flew at him after using his adrenaline rush. His bullets hit a centurion in its body, and sent in flying from the force of the bullets, while he got his omni-blade ready for the second. As soon as he reached the second centurion, he thrust his energy weapon forward, and the centurion fell almost instantly. The second centurion was still down and all Shepard had to do was finish him off. The guardian was a little harder for Shepard. Normal bullets and omni-blades won't get through the shield, he was holding, and the guardian was smart, backing himself into the corner, so that he wouldn't get hit from behind. All it took to defeat him was a singularity from Liara, which worked on these types of Cerberus soldiers. Kaidan came out and finished the guardian with an overload to the face. Finally finishing the fire fight with the Cerberus troops, Shepard and his team headed towards the main room of the archives to get what they came for.

"Kaidan, scout around," Shepard ordered.

The Major went off to the side to check things out. Shepard and Liara took a good look at the screen, while taking off their helmet items. Before either of them could do anything, a holographic projection appeared behind them. Out stepped a familiar figure, one that Shepard knew too well.

"Shepard," the figure said, his robotic eyes gleaming.

Liara turned around swiftly, predator drawn; disappointed that it was only a hologram. "Illusive Man," she said, putting her predator back.

"Fascinating, these Protheans. They left us all this to discover, but we've squandered it," Illusive Man stated. "Nothing has been done about this information until now."

"I don't know what you want in all this, but we won't let you win!" Shepard stated angrily. "But we'll stop it. After we destroy the Reapers, we're coming for you."

Listening to that, the Illusive Man just chuckled to himself, and took a drag of his cigarette. "That might have scared me, if I was still the old Cerberus. You've gotten stronger Shepard, and so have I. I give you the new Cerberus!"

As he stretched his arms out, three slightly distorted figures walked into the hologram projector's range. The one on the far left was a little chubby, and wore a military fur coat-like outfit. He had a scar running down his face, and a thick moustache. The one in the middle had a long trench coat, long hair, sunglasses, and also a moustache. The one on the right also had a trench coat and sunglasses, but he was clean shaven, except for his hair, and had eyes that glowed through his sunglasses.

"Meet my new friends, Shepard," The Illusive Man grinned, taking another smoke of his cigarette. "I don't think you'll be able to take us down as easily as you hoped. With their help, Cerberus is as strong as ever!"

Shepard didn't recognize the figures, but he could tell they were trouble, except for the chubby one on the left. That one didn't really look intimidating.

"So Shepard," The Illusive Man spoke once again. "I'll leave you with this question. Why don't you join us again Shepard. After all, I gave your life back. With our new found strength, we'll find a way to control the Reapers once and for all!"

"We'll still stop you," Shepard said aggressively. "Liara."

Liara knew what to do and started looking for the Prothean plans.

"Don't interfere with my plans, Shepard," Illusive Man warned. "I won't warn you again."

Shepard ignored him, but an exclamation from Liara drew his attention. "Shepard! The files; they're being erased."

The Illusive Man grinned as he walked away from the hologram screen. As he sat down, he smoked his cigarette and said, "Goodbye Shepard."

"How is he doing it?" Shepard asked.

"It's local," Liara exclaimed. "Someone's uploading them."

As Kaidan was walking around, he heard computing noises, and went to investigate, his gun held in front of him in case it was something dangerous. In one of the nearby rooms, a woman was bent over a console, frantically tapping away at the keys.

"Hey!" Kaidan shouted to her. "Step away from the console!"

The woman stepped back and lashed out with her foot, knocking Kaidan down. After that, she smashed the console with her omni-tool, and made a dash for the exit.

"She's got the data!"  
Shepard and Liara saw the woman run off, and gave chase. Shepard lead the chase, as they ran after the strange woman through the facility. The chase led outside, and Shepard grumbled as he put on his helmet once more. The woman didn't even slow down to put on a helmet, which Shepard found strange as he continued the run. Once in a while, she would turn back and shoot an incineration tech at them, but Shepard easily dodged them with his adrenaline rush. He didn't dare turn around to see how his teammates were doing, as he might slow down, or run into something. The chase led up some slopes, and down some slopes, as the woman tried many different tactics to try and slow Shepard and his team down. The chase eventually led to a landing pad, where the woman seemed cornered as the path stopped there. Shepard grinned, as he thought he has won, but suddenly, out of nowhere, a Cerberus Kodiak appeared, and the woman immediately jumped in through an open door. Shepard stopped in his tracks and stared at the craft, knowing that he couldn't shoot it down with the weapons he had right now.

"I see you, Mason!" A voice shouted from a platform somewhere under Shepard. Shepard decided to take a look, and there stood a baldish man with a beard, holding a rocket launcher. Two more ugly men came up to the platform and joined their friend.

"Strange people," Shepard thought to himself. They too were not wearing helmets. Very strange indeed.

Bringing his attention back to the Cerberus Kodiak as it began its ascend to the sky, Shepard spoke out on his comm link. "Normandy. James. Anyone?"

Shepard saw something else in the sky. It was approaching them. It was the Alliance shuttle.

"James here. This one's mine!" James said, as he flew the shuttle towards the Cerberus Kodiak.

The ISA soldier rushed his craft at the Cerberus Kodiak at breakneck speed. Just before the aircrafts made contact, James's shuttle suddenly spun to the right, missing the Cerberus shuttle completely.

"I can't control it!" James yelled on the radio. "Lousy Alliance crafts!"

Shepard winced as he saw the Alliance shuttle smash into the three ugly, bald men he saw earlier, killing them instantly.

"James is going to get in so much trouble for that," Shepard thought, but thoughts of James's eventually demotion were forced out of his head by the sight of Dr. Core's shuttle escaping into the sky. Shepard raised his gun and decided to open fire on it, although he knew it wouldn't do any good. Suddenly, at the corner of Shepard's eye, there was a glimmer of something shiny. Then there was an explosion, sending the Cerberus shuttle in a downward spiral. Shepard and his team jumped out of the way just in time as the shuttle ploughed into the ground where they had just been standing, sending out sparks, fire, and chunks of metal.

Kaidan coughed as he picked himself off the ground. "What was that?" He asked.

Shepard returned his attention to where the shiny glimmer had been before the shuttle crash. There, standing silhouetted against the sun, on a nearby walkway, was a lone man with a rocket launcher, although not one that Shepard had seen, or used before. He too was not wearing a helmet, but he had a scarf wrapped around his head. The man made his way towards Shepard and his crew, pulling the scarf off, revealing a shaven crown. The man surveyed the damage and stowed his rocket launcher over his back.

"Who are you?" Shepard asked.

The man extended a hand as he introduced himself. "Darius Mason, of the Red Faction."

* * *

Shepard questioned Mason for a bit. He asked about where he came from, and why he wasn't wearing a helmet. Mason just told him that he came from underground, and his people had adapted to Martian life, so he didn't have to wear a helmet on the surface.

"Sorry about the guys that James killed," Shepard told him. "I'll see to it that he gets demoted."

Mason waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, it's ok. If he didn't kill those guys, I would have killed them myself. Saved me the trouble."

"Who were they, anyway?" Shepard asked, looking at the remains of the ugly, bald men.

Mason opened his mouth to explain, but before any words left it, there was a sudden banging noise from the shuttle. Everyone looked at the destroyed Cerberus Kodiak as the door was blown off its hinges from some great internal force. There stood Dr. Core, only now she looked a little different. A little more like a robot. Then it hit them. Dr. Core had never been a human to begin with. The android stood there in the flaming wreckage of the shuttle, completely undamaged. Kaidan pushed Liara away as he pulled out his predator pistol and opened fire on the robot. The robot ran to the major and grabbed his helmet, unwavered by the gunfire.

"Kaidan!" Shepard shouted as he ran near the robot, predator drawn.

Touching an earpiece, the robot spoke. "Orders?" Most likely to the Illusive Man.

A voice buzzed out of the speaker, "Finish him."

The robot, obeying the order, turned around and walked towards the damaged shuttle, holding Kaidan by the helmet.

"No!" Shepard shouted as the robot smashed Kaidan against the shuttle twice, and then letting him fall to the floor. After that, it charged at Shepard. Shepard got ready to fire, but there was a sudden 'thunk' noise as the robot flew backwards at a terrific speed, crunching against the ruins of the Cerberus shuttle, and knocking out all its electronics.

Shepard turned around to see it was Mason who shot at it. "Thanks," Shepard said.

Joker's voice suddenly buzzed in Shepard's helmet. "Shepard! We've got Reaper signatures in orbit!"

James, who had climbed out of the Alliance shuttle, joined the party. "Dumb Alliance crafts," He grumbled. Give me an ISA Intruder anyday."

Shepard ran to the body of the major. "Take that robot with us!" He commanded James, as he picked up the major. As Shepard turned around and walked back to his teammates, the Normandy was arriving, ready to pick them up. As Reaper forced started descending on the planet, Shepard and his team got on the Normandy.

"You can't stay here, Mason. Not with the Reapers coming." Shepard said. "Come with us."

Mason nodded and climbed aboard. After everyone got on, the Normandy took off and got out of there before anything could stop them. Shepard wished they could have brought the shuttle too, as it didn't look too badly damaged. James thought otherwise. As Shepard brought Kaidan down to the med bay, the Normandy plotted a course for the Citadel.

* * *

Project Eel - Mars


	3. Chapter 2: Citadel I

Chapter 2: Citadel I

Shepard put Kaidan down on one of the medical tables. He just stared at the downed major, until Liara spoke up.

"Shepard. Kaidan needs medical attention."

"Yes. I know," Shepard said as he walked out of the med lab.

There was nothing anyone could do until they reached the Citadel, so James reached over and turned on the radio.

An upbeat gangster tune resonated out of the machine. "Sam B got the thing that go bump in the night! Who do you voodoo –"

"Turn that off, James," Shepard commanded, cutting into the sound of the music.

James looked outrage. "But its Sam B! He's the most famous rapper on the Citadel!" James protested.

"Turn it off, Lieutenant. Now."

James muttered something like, "Ain't my fault you lack a musical ear," but turned the radio off anyway.

With nothing else to do, James headed off towards the armory to workout. Shepard stayed where he was, his hands creeping over and finding a candy bar. He unwrapped it without much enthusiasm and shoved it in his mouth, tasting the cheap sugar as it hit his tongue. He heard someone approach from behind; it was Mason.

"So, who exactly are you guys?" Mason asked.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance," Shepard told him. "Perhaps you have heard of me."

"Nope," said Mason, sitting down. "So what's going on with the universe?"

"Well," Shepard said, joining Mason at the table. "We've got giant bugbots called Reapers, and there's an evil organization called Cerberus, who is trying to take control of the Reapers, and we have to stop them both."

Mason whistled. "That's a pretty tough job you've got there, commander. Sounds like you could use all the help you can get."

"Yeah," said Shepard. Then the idea struck him. "You wouldn't be interested in joining the fight would you?"

Mason examined a glowing blue device on his wrist. "If these Reapers win, the whole galaxy is done for right?"

Shepard nodded.

"Then count me in," Mason said.

"Welcome aboard, Mason," Shepard told him, shaking his hand. "I'll have James show you to your quarters."

Shepard then walked towards the intercom and spoke at it, "James, get back up here. I've got a job for you."

* * *

As James brought Mason to his quarters, he filled in the Red Faction soldier about the Citadel, which they would be arriving at in a few hours…

"So that's all you need to know," James finished. "Welcome aboard the Normandy, Mason. Good to have you around."

"So, is there a bar on the Citadel?" Asked Mason.

James grinned. "Heck yeah. We can go grab some drinks there.

"What else is there to do on the Citadel?"

"I was going to look at the games shop," James said happily. "But I have to take Liara with me, because Shepard says I spend way too much time on that place, so she's supposed to tell me when my time's up."

Joker's voice spoke out from the speakers. "We'll be arriving at the Citadel in about half an hour. All crew prepare for arrival."

"Guess that means I've got to go. Catch you around, Mason," James said as he left the Red Faction soldier's quarters.

* * *

Shepard watched as the medics wheeled Kaidan through the docking bay towards the hospital. Moments later, he was met by yet another familiar face.

"Captain Bailey," Shepard said with a surprised tone.

"It's Commander Bailey now," Bailey told him.

"Congratulations on the promotion," Shepard told him.

Bailey grinned. "Thanks."

Shepard briefed the new commander on what was going on, and what had happened to Kaidan on Mars. Bailey's face grew grimmer as he listened.

"So, it's come to this," Bailey breathed. "Ah."

Bailey then led Shepard towards the council, because they wanted to see him.

"Good luck in there, Shepard."

* * *

The council was as boring as Shepard remembered it to be, except this time they all seemed a little embarrassed and no one would look him in the eye.

"Probably because I was right about everything," Shepard thought smugly.

"Yes, so it must seem that we must all try our best to defeat the Reapers," the salarian councillor said.

"Aha!" Shepard said suddenly, and everyone turned to look at him. "So now you believe in the Reapers, eh?"

"Well, how can we not," the turian councillor snapped. "They're obviously going to destroy all of us if we don't pay attention to them."

"But you believe them now, right? Whatever happened to, 'we have dismissed that claim?'" Shepard asked.

"Ah, eh, er, ah… well in the previous circumstances, we had no choice but to…" the turian councillor began.

"You mean, I was right and you were wrong?" said Shepard. "I told you! I told you, but you wouldn't listen! Oh, we have dismissed that claim! Hahaha!"

Shepard started making finger quotes and began dancing on the spot.

The council allowed two full minutes of satisfaction and dancing before Councillor Udina spoke up. "Yes, you were right, Shepard. However, this is hardly the time for celebration, because if your previous claims about the Reapers were correct, they would still arrive and kill us all."

"But you don't _get _it," Shepard said. "I was right and you were wrong. And all those times you said I was crazy or a liar… well, who's the crazy one now? Haha!"

Udina made a grumbling noise and Shepard continued his dancing. "Shepard, if you would just stop your shenanigans for a moment, perhaps we can discuss how to stop these Reapers."

Liara, came into the room shortly after the dancing, and tapped her omni-tool, allowing the plans for the prothean device to pop into the air. While she explained the device to the council, and what they might need, Shepard pulled out a candy bar from his pocket and snapped on it, ignoring the looks of distaste from the council members.

"… and this is the only plan we have on stopping the Reapers," finished Liara.

There was a moment of silence as the members of the council thought this over.

"I must admit, this doesn't seem like a reliable plan," the salarian councillor admitted at last. "Perhaps if we were to think this over we can come up with a better, less risky plan."

Shepard tossed the candy bar wrapper at the councillor. "We don't have time!" Shepard said loudly. "Every moment we spend here talking is another moment we give the Reapers time to destroy the things we care about."

The salarian councillor swept it off the table. "Yes, but blindly rushing in isn't the best strategy either."

"It's always worked for me," Shepard commented.

"Well, not everyone is you," countered the turian councillor.

"Yeah you're right," said Shepard. "If you were all me you would have believed me when I told you about the Reapers."

The turian councillor shuffled around on his seat but said nothing.

"Perhaps we should all take a moment to cool down," Udina said. "Shepard, I want to see you in my office."

* * *

As Shepard walked towards Udina's office, all his previous experiences with the human councillor began playing in his head.

"Aw, man. This guy is really boring. I better think of some excuse to get out of here as fast as I can," Shepard thought to himself.

The door to the councillor's office hissed open, revealing a rather crossed-looking Udina standing behind his table.

"You wanted to see me, councillor?" Shepard asked apprehensively.

"Yes, Shepard. Your behaviour in today's meeting was… questionable."

Shepard's mind raced as he tried to think of a way out.  
"Oh would you look at the time," he said, suddenly glancing at his omni-tool. "I have a top secret mission I promised, uh… Bailey I'd see to. Umm… sorry councillor, but I'm going to have to… catch you later."

"What could possibly be more important than meeting with me?"

"Uhh… Spectre business. Top secret. I'll tell as soon as I have clearance."

Without another word, Shepard ran out of the room, plotting the fastest course to the purgatory bar. Udina watched the commander disappear from the office, then slowly shook his head and sat down.

"I'll never understand that man," the councillor muttered.

* * *

Commander Shepard made his way towards the purgatory floor of the Citadel.

"Phew," the commander sighed. "Looks like I made it out."

Shepard decided that he needed a drink, so he headed towards the purgatory bar. He smiled to himself when he neared the entrance, but before he could walk in, a voice from behind called out to him.

"Shepard!"

Shepard turned around, surprised to see that it was the turian councillor who was calling him. "Hello again, Shepard. We might have something that could help you for your fight against the Reapers."

Before Shepard could say anything, the councillor spoke first. "Don't talk about any more of our disbeliefs. We believe you now, so no more accusations and dancing. Palaven's Primarch Fedorian called for a war summit. Now, he's open to extreme solutions, like your plan. We lost contact of him after the Reapers hit Palaven. We don't know if he's still alive, but if he is, the Normandy could perhaps get in there, and get him out."

"So he _might_ be able to help us with Earth?" Shepard asked.

"Yes, well if you do get him out alive, he will be a powerful asset to your plan, and he might get you what you are looking for."

Shepard looked unsure.

"You and your councillor were right. We need to work together. This is the best way to get that. Our intel says that the Primarch is on Menae, Palaven's largest moon. Just get in undetected and get him out."

Shepard thought about it for a moment. This might seem like a good idea, but nothing is ever that easy. Every mission that he went on always had shooting involved.

"Oh, and we have decided to reinstate your Spectre status. You'll probably need it. Good luck."

With that, the councillor made his way back to the elevators.

"That went well," Shepard thought to himself as he walked towards the bar. "I think I'll get a drink and meet some friends before getting on with the mission."

* * *

Project Eel – Citadel I


	4. Chapter 3: Palaven (Menae)

Chapter 3: Palaven (Menae)

Shepard got to meet a few old acquaintances and beat up the reporter again, before he returned to the Normandy. He got to meet Kelly, his ex-yeoman, who worked with him when he was with Cerberus, Thane, the drell assassin who joined him for his suicide mission, and Miranda, the now ex-cerberus operative, who helped him on his missions while he was still with Cerberus. Speaking of which, he was also an ex-cerberus person.

"Ha," Shepard thought to himself.

As he walked around on the Normandy, he had found out what his other important crew members had been doing while he talked to the council. Liara was with James until it was time to head to the council, and was there till the council session was over, but after that, she went to the café at the Presidium commons to get some refreshments. James was never at the session to begin with. As soon as he got out of the Normandy, he headed straight to the games section at the Zakera ward. Shepard found him in the armory with a few new games that he had bought.

"Check out these cool games I found, commander," James told him excitedly.

Shepard picked out one of the game boxes and looked at it. "Call of Duty: Black Ops 10?"

"Yeah. It's predecessors were really good, so I thought, why not try this one? It's even got a zombies mode. We can put it in the combat simulator and use it as training for fighting husks."

"Umm… ok," Shepard said.

Shepard took a look at the rest of the games James bought. Killzone 7, Battlefield 12, Army of Twenty-six Thousand, and then there was also one which Shepard thought looked rather familiar.

"What's this one, James? Mass Effect 5?" Shepard said as he read off the box cover. "Do I know the guy on the front? I feel like I've seen him before."

"Nah," James told the commander. "How could you? You've never played games."

"Yeah. I suppose you're right."

After small chats with his crewmates, including the random ones like engineer Adams, Specialist Samantha Traynor, Joker, Kodiak Pilot Lieutenant Steve Cortez, and Dr. Chakwas, Shepard headed back to his room to get some sleep before their arrival on Menae, Palaven's largest moon.

* * *

Shepard woke up in some random dark forest. Everything seemed destroyed and the trees bore no leaves. Everything was dark, except for one boy in the distance, who glowed with a small white light. Shepard ran nearer to investigate this boy. As he got nearer, he saw the boy. It was the boy who he couldn't save back on Earth. Shepard saw this as an opportunity now, and ran towards the boy. As he neared him, red light shot out from the sky, and the Reaper's charge noise could be heard. The boy looked up and ran leaving Shepard behind. Shepard followed the boy, but he couldn't run as fast as he wanted to. After a few minutes of searching, he found the boy again, and thought to himself that this time; he will reach the boy and save him. Shepard stretched out his hand as he got closer to the boy. Before anything could be done, the boy stood up and fire ignited around him, consuming his form. Shepard stared at disbelief that the boy was gone. This was the second time he couldn't save him. Shepard woke up in his bed, drenched with sweat.

* * *

"It was only a dream," Shepard said with relief. "I'll have James change my sheets later."

* * *

Shepard got to the bridge as the Normandy approached Menae. The turian forces were already engaging the Reapers above Palaven, and they seemed to be at an advantage with their numbers, but against the Reapers, numbers do not matter. Some Reapers tore into the turian fleets with their lasers and destroyed them almost immediately. All around them, other turian ships were getting shot down by Reaper forces, and although the turians were holding their ground, Shepard knew that they couldn't do it forever. After their arrival near the moon, Shepard went down to the armory to prepare for the mission. He was surprised to see James and Darius Mason already down there, swapping war stories.

"… and so with the threat of the alien bugs gone, we began to settle back on the surface," Mason finished.

"That's a pretty cool story," James commented picking up a gun and examining it.

"Alright," Shepard said, butting in. "We've got to get down there and make sure there's still a Primarch down there to attend the summit instead of a dead body. Got that?"

"Yes sir!" said James.

"Just kidding," Shepard said. "The turians are trained in combat situations from a young age. I'm sure the Primarch can handle himself."

There was an explosion on the moon's surface.

"Ok, maybe not," Shepard admitted. "We better get down there fast!"

As quickly as they could, the team suited up, grabbed their guns, and ran to the shuttle will all speed.

* * *

The Alliance shuttle descended towards Menae's surface. Video feeds of Palaven were appearing on the shuttle's screens. Shepard and his team watched the feeds in horror.

"No. No. Palaven," Shepard said and his teammates stared at him. "We have an old friend there."

"They're getting decimated," James said grimly.

Shepard just shook his head. "Strongest military in the galaxy, and the Reapers are obliterating it."

"Was it like this on Earth?" Mason asked him.

"Yes."

"Aw man."

Before anymore could be said, they arrived on the moon's surface. When Shepard opened the door, husks were swarming the landing zone. Shepard whipped out his avenger and gunned down a bunch of husks. James and Mason joined in a few seconds later, their guns blazing as well. Three husks ran at Shepard. He shot one, dodged the other, and stabbed the third with is omni-blade. Mason blasted the last husk with his shockwave and sent it flying. The landing zone was clear, at least for now. Shepard and his team headed towards the turian camp to look for the Primarch. The turian camp wasn't looking too good. They had many casualties already, and some spots were in ruins. Shepard made his way to the main area of the camp to find out about the Primarch's whereabouts. A turian general was there giving orders to the turian soldiers. That was probably the best bet Shepard had on finding the Primarch.

"General," Shepard said as he walked towards the turian.

"Ah, Commander Shepard," the general said. "Heard you were coming, but I didn't believe it. I'm General Corinthus."

"We're here for Primarch Fedorian," Shepard squeezed in.

The general looked down at his table for a while without saying anything.

"Primarch Fedorian is dead," the general spoke out after the silence. "His shuttle was shot down as it was trying to leave."

"Sorry. Heard he was a good man," Shepard told him.

"And a friend," Corinthus told him. "He would have been an outstanding diplomat."

"So what happens now?"

"I'll have to contact Palaven Command to see who is next in the line of succession. However… contacting them right now is impossible. The comm tower is out."

"I'll get the tower operational, general," Shepard spoke, taking out his avenger.

* * *

Shepard and his team had to fight through more husks to get to the comm tower.

"Why are there always only husks?" James asked, using carnage on a husk. "If husks are humans, then what are other species' Reaper forces?"

"I don't think I want to know," Mason said as he shot a husk in the face.

The husks were just coming out of every possible area, but Shepard, Mason, and James just took them out every time with a lot of ease. One nearly got James, but Shepard knocked it off a cliff with a concussive shot. With all the husks gone, for now, Shepard and his team made their way to the comm tower. Shepard tried to fix it, but apparently, it could not be done from the console he was using.

"James," he ordered. "Climb the tower and fix the signal."

James grumbled, but went up anyway. "Keep husks from coming up here at least, commander."

"No promises, James. No promises."

As James climbed higher, husks started appearing again, but this time from the sky as well. Mason shot away with his assault rifle and also used his magnet gun to smash a whole armada of husks down a cliff. Shepard just used his avenger and unleashed a barrage of bullets at the husks. He didn't bring any other weapons with him at the moment besides his avenger, but it didn't matter for him, because he found random piles of thermal clips on the floor when he needed them. Mason was different. Strange enough, he didn't need thermal clips. He used a different source of ammo instead of thermal clips. Shepard would have asked him, but now with all the husks closing in, this was not the right time to do so. Mason also had strange tech abilities. Or was it biotic abilities? He could use his tech powers to use biotic powers like shockwave, and singularity. So is it tech biotics? Shepard had no time to think about it much, but at least the enemy waves were finally dying down. As Mason finished off the last husk with a burst from his rifle, James climbed down from the comm tower.

"Hey, I think I fixed it," the lieutenant said.

Shepard looked up. Indeed, the tower was now blinking with lights.

"Good work James. Now let's get back to the camp."

* * *

"Succession is usually simple, commander," General Corinthus said. "But right now, the hierarchy is in chaos. Many are dead or MIA."

Shepard was annoyed with all this. "I need someone. I don't care who. As long as they can get us the turian resources we need."

Suddenly a familiar voice cut in from nowhere. "I'm on it, Shepard. We'll get you the Primarch."

As the turian stepped closer, Shepard recognized the scarred face and the scanner over his left eye.

"Garrus!" Shepard exclaimed. "Good to see you again. Thought you were on Palaven."

"The moon's important," Garrus told the commander. "If we lose it, we lose Palaven. We needed a Reaper specialist. I'm the closest thing to that, so… I'm advising."

Shepard introduced his teammates to his turian friend. "This is Lieutenant James Vega. He's… James."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, commander?" said James.

Shepard ignored him and continued talking. "And this is Darius Mason of the Red Faction. He's from Mars. He's agreed to help us fight the Reapers."

Garrus nodded, acknowledging them. After a short exchange between Garrus and Shepard, they figured out who they were after.

"We are looking for General Adrien Victus," Garrus said. "I was fighting alongside him this morning."

"Alright. Let's get him then," Shepard decided.

Suddenly Shepard's comm link turned on; Joker's voice screamed in his ear. Shepard turned down the volume to a reasonable volume and listened. "Commander, we've got a problem with the Normandy. Systems are shutting down and weapons are powering up. And we've also picked up a Cerberus shuttle, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything."

Shepard turned to Mason. "Mason, you said you were good at fixing things right?"

Mason looked at the blue device on his wrist. "Yeah, I'm pretty good. I used to be a mechanic. Then I took an Adam Hale to the knee."

Shepard was confused but decided not to ask. "Well, I need you to get back to the Normandy and figure out what's going on."

James raised his hand. "Hey, what about me? I know the Normandy a lot better –"

"No, James," Shepard cut him off. "I need you here in the fight."

"And you're no good at fixing things," Shepard thought to himself, remembering the last time James had tried to fix the coffee maker; his idea of fixing things was kicking it until it worked, although he did do a good job on the comms tower, strange enough.

James and Shepard watched Mason race back to the shuttle and once he was out of sight, followed Garrus out of the camp to find the soon to be turian Primarch.

"Harvester!" James shouted all of a sudden.

Shepard and his team looked up and there flying above the moon's surface, and there was a flying dark-blue nightmare. The three of them raised their guns to fire, but the Harvester just kept going until it landed beyond the gates to the camp.

"Try to contact Victus," Shepard told Corinthus. "We'll go take care of whatever that thing dropped off."

Shepard, James, and Garrus ran off and got ready for a fire fight.

* * *

Shepard's avenger jumped in his grip as he took down husks, cannibals, and ones that looked like turians. Apparently, they were called Marauders. The marauders were a little harder than the cannibals, but Shepard could still take them down. Garrus hid behind some rocks a little behind Shepard and sniped at the Reaper forces, each shot bringing down another enemy.

"I've got to work on my accuracy," the commander thought somewhat grumpily.

James ran up closer to the Reaper forces and tore through a pack of cannibals with his LS13 shotgun. Shepard tossed a frag grenade over to a bunch of husks and sent them flying while he did an unnecessary combat roll and shot some marauders up front. Shepard and Garrus shot concussive shots at more Reaper forces to the left of their position. James let loose one of his carnage shots at a marauder and blew him into bits. One marauder was daring enough to go up right to James as he reloaded. It reached over, but it never got a chance to touch James, as Shepard rolled up to it and stabbed it with his omni-blade, the force sending it flying backwards. The Reaper forces were defeated, at least for now. Shepard turned around to congratulate his team when suddenly, a huge, flaming wreckage of what used to be a Cerberus shuttle slammed into the ground in front of them.

"What the?" Shepard exclaimed.

The commander and his two allies crept towards the shuttle. As they neared it, the door suddenly flew off its hinges.

"Not again…" Shepard said, remembering the encounter before. "You'd think I don't have enough evil robots trying to murder me…"

As he expected another Dr. Core to step out of the shuttle ruins, a gloved hand began to feel around the shuttle door.

"Maybe it's a survivor," James said. "We can capture him, and interrogate him about Cerberus plans."

The three of them edged closer to the shuttle, their guns raised. Slowly, the person made his way out into the light of the fire, illuminating a bald head, and a face distorted into a snarl.

As the being stood up, its head way above Shepard's, Shepard glanced at his lieutenant. "Still thinking on capturing him, James?"

Lieutenant Vega simply shook his head and aimed his gun towards the "survivor".

* * *

The creature, which looked almost human, charged at them, roaring and screaming. Shepard and his team opened fire, but their bullets only seemed to make it angrier. They dodged out of the way as the creature barrelled past them. It slid to a halt and whipped its head around. No matter how much they shot at it, the creature didn't seem to be slowing down. They knew they were hurting it, as it held its hands high to protect its face.

"It must have a lot of HP…" James said out loud, as he dodged a flying rock that landed where he just stood.

"Quiet, James," Shepard commented. "Focus on killing this thing."

Shepard threw a frag grenade to its face, but before it blew up, the creature swept it back towards him, forcing him to perform a necessary combat roll. The force of the grenade still sent him sailing a little bit over to a rocky cliff.

"Ouch," Shepard said, while getting up. "Our guns don't seem to be doing much to this thing!"

"I've got an idea," Garrus told them. "Follow me!"

Garrus ran off towards the base. Was his plan a retreat? Shepard didn't like a plan like that, but he followed Garrus and James anyway, as he wouldn't be able to win this by himself. The creature turned and charged after them.

As they got closer to the base, Garrus shouted out to the turians, "Fire! Now!"

The turian guards turned and used their turrets to unleash a hail of bullets against the evil creature. Their turrets looked like they were doing more damage, as the creature slowed to a stop. It growled as the bullets smashed against its skin. After a few moments of trying to get through, the creature just turned around and ran off, apparently giving up.

"Yeah, take that, you ugly monster!" James shouted to it, mockingly.

"You're one to talk…" Shepard thought.

* * *

Shepard mowed down wave after wave of Reaper forces using the turian camp's turret. After he, Garrus, and James got back to camp, General Corinthus told him that Victus was away at a nearby camp. Before he could go any further, as expected, Reaper forces begun an attack on their base. Shepard had to get on the turret and cover the base, while his squad mates provided covering fire. The Reaper waves seemed endless as Shepard tore through the husks as they attempted to breach the base's defences.

"Ha! Piece of cake!" Shepard shouted, his voice rising over the roar of the turret fire.

"What?" Garrus asked.

"Eat this, you zombies!" James interrupted in before Shepard could explain his saying to Garrus.

"James," Shepard exclaimed. "You know this isn't a game right?"

"Yeah, I know, commander. Just trying to have a little fun."

Shepard shook his head and returned his attention to the battle. Before he could start shooting again, a massive behemoth hurled itself into the walls, causing Shepard to fall off.

"Ouch," Shepard gasped, as he hit the ground. "I need to start wearing a helmet even when I don't need one. I never know when I might need a helmet."

Shepard's teammates jumped down to assist him.

"Ugh, next time, I'm going back to repair the Normandy," James grumbled.

Shepard was about to remind James about how bad his mechanic skills were, when the giant brute charged at them.

"That's a good name," Shepard thought, as he performed a combat roll. "I think I'll refer to them as brutes from here on."

The "brute" swiped out at Shepard with its giant arm, but Shepard managed to get out of its range in time. Shepard let out a burst of fire at its turian looking head as he finished his roll. The three of them fired back at the brute, James' LS13 shotgun, Garrus's Mantis sniper rifle, and Shepard's Avenger spitting out bullets as fast as they could squeeze the trigger. However, none of their attacks seemed to have much effect, the shot pinging off the brute's heavily armoured body.

James, his gun empty, threw it at the brute, then took a grenade off his belt. He tugged the pin out, then flung it at his foe. It missed by a mile.

"Lousy low gravity!" James cursed.

Garrus and Shepard glanced at each other. They both knew that Menae's gravitational pull wasn't _that_ different from Earth's, at least not enough to make James' throw go that far off target.

"Note to self," the commander thought as he changed his gun's magazine. "Make James do more target practice."

Garrus jumped backward, his turian physique making up for his slight lack of manoeuvrability then sighted down his sniper scope and squeezed off a single shot. The bullet sped down the barrel, and by some miracle, right into the brute's eye. There was a squelch, a sound of circuitry frying, and a roar as the brute's vision was cut off.

"Nice shot, Vakarian!" James said as he picked up his shotgun. The brute was charging around, completely blinded, ramming into rocks and the camp's protective walls. It crashed into a communications pylon, the same one that James had been fixing earlier. It swayed, creaked as the bolts and screws gave way, and with a final groan of overtaxed steel smashed down on the Reaper monster's back, trapping it in place.

Shepard and his crew advanced warily on the pinned brute, guns held ready in case it decided to get up. The brute stirred, clawed at the three men weakly, and tried to get up and failed.

"James, give me a grenade." Shepard ordered.

The ISA soldier unclipped a second grenade from his belt and dutifully handed it to the commander. Shepard took the explosive device, weighing it in his hand before pulling the pin and stuffing it into the hole where its eye used to be.

"Come on, walk with me," said Shepard, resting his gun on his shoulder. "And don't look back."

And the three of them walked away from the explosion, not looking back. It felt cool.

At least, until James tripped over a rock.

"Just had to ruin the moment, didn't you?" Shepard thought exasperatedly.

* * *

The three of them pressed on, still feeling unbelievably cool from what had just happened. No husks or cannibals could stand in their way, every bit of resistance falling before James' savage shotgun blasts, Shepard's unwavering rifle fire, or vicious no-scopes from Garrus.

Before long, they were at the camp where Victus was supposed to be at. It looked in rough shape, like two tornadoes and a truck had hit it. It was also under attack, which seemed like a third tornado, or two trucks. There were only a few turians left standing, including one who matched the picture of Victus. They were backed into a corner, desperately firing back at the innumerable husks, cannibals, and a marauder.

"We're coming, Victus!" Shepard yelled, roadie-running across the remaining distance before jumping four feet into the air and landing on top of a husk. Shepard then surfed its body into a crowd of Reaper forces, scattering them like bowling pins. The commander came up firing, cutting down a cannibal with a well-placed headshot.

Renewed by the sight of this human, the turians rallied, raining gunfire upon the husks and cannibals. The marauder took aim at Victus, but Garrus shot first. As the headless body thudded into the moon dust, Shepard and his two partners climbed through the remains of the camp wall. It wasn't pretty. It looked like Shepard had arrived in the nick of time.

* * *

"Victus!" the commander said happily. "You're still alive!"

"Yes, thanks to you, Shepard." Said the turian gratefully. "We wouldn't have lasted much longer out there."

"Hey…" James interjected. "Primarch Fedorian's, uh,"

"I know he's dead." Victus answered grimly. "and I also know why you're here."

"Well that saves us some time-" said the ISA trooper.

"But I don't know if I can do it."

"What?" Shepard said in shock. "Why?"

"It doesn't feel right just abandoning my troops and the fight here, just to be at some peace summit that might not work. I'm a general, not some politician," Victus said as he walked to face Palaven.

"That's why this'll work," Shepard added in. "You've got experience in the battlefield. You know how these work. You might feel like you're abandoning the fight, but without this summit, thousands more will die."

"Ok," Victus finally said. "Let me say goodbye to my men first."

Shepard nodded as Victus walked off.

"Cortez," Shepard buzzed. "We need you here to pick us up."

Garrus and James walked up to join Shepard.

"Are you sure he can do it?" Garrus asked curious of what Shepard thought.

"He'll be perfect! He'll have to be, anyways, or we're all dead."

* * *

Project Eel - Menae


End file.
